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Projects: Space Information

Contests

Click to enlarge > Huygens Art Contest Special Prize Winner: "Titan: Beneath the Veil" Artist David Ziels won a special prize in the Huygens Art Contest for that artwork which most closely matched the view that the Huygens probe obtained of Titan during its descent in January, 2005. Credit: David Ziels, USA / Courtesy of The Planetary Society

The Planetary Society organizes space-related contests as a fun way to get the public involved with space exploration.  Art and essay contests invite people to imagine the new worlds we'll explore.  Naming contests have given members of the general public a chance give names to missions and space objects, including Magellan, Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, and the asteroids Bonestell, Nereus, and Braille.  Other contests challenge people to employ wit, skill, and luck in games that give the public a personal stake in the outcome of our collective efforts to explore space.

Recent Contests

Art Contests

New Horizons Digital Time Capsule - The Planetary Society, in conjunction with the New Horizons mission, invites children and adults around the world to send a message to future Earth -- a Digital Time Capsule from those who launched the mission to the inhabitants of Earth who receive its results nearly a decade later.
Postcards from Venus - With the European Space Agency, The Planetary Society invited people around the world to send a postcard from the surface of Venus in honor of the orbit insertion of ESA's Venus Express spacecraft.
The Huygens Art Contest - Huygens' cameras revealed a world never seen before by human eyes.  For the European Space Agency, The Planetary Society invited the world to predict what it would find, giving prizes both before and after.

Naming Contests

Name the Rovers - As a partner with the LEGO Company, we conducted the contest that produced the names "Spirit" and "Opportunity" for the twin Mars Exploration Rovers.
Past Naming Contests - Through other contests, we have helped to name the Magellan orbiter, Sojourner rover, Beagle experimental rover, and three asteroids: Bonestell, Nereus, and Braille.

Student Contests

Red Rover Goes to Mars - Through separate contests, three international teams of students participated directly in Mars exploration activities, culminating with the Student Astronauts, who joined the Mars Exploration Rovers' science teams in mission operations with their landings in January 2004.

Scholarship Programs

Contests of Wit and Skill

The Great Comet Crater Contest - The Deep Impact mission created a new crater on comet Tempel 1, and The Planetary Society invited the world to guess how big it would be.